


first in the water

by lvgia



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oikawa's physics textbook, Pokemon GO Shenanigans, matsuhana and iwaoi doing the best friend tag!, wheat sowed by the hand of God and imported from 3000BC Sumeria, youtube au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 23:29:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11195721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lvgia/pseuds/lvgia
Summary: Iwaizumi and Oikawa have long dissolved into laughter by then, and Matsukawa just gets this weird constipated look on his face like all he wants to do is to burst out laughing but he’s holding back, and does the grand reveal – he flips his whiteboard, which reads –– cheeseburger, and for the love of God,no fucking pickles.“Well, you didn’t say no to the bitter gourd!” Hanamaki replies, scandalised.Matsukawa just smiles at him. “Don’t worry. I’d eat anything you make for me.”or, a Youtube AU in which Makki's a youtuber and Mattsun is perfect. Pining ensues. (feat. Iwaoi being wingmen)





	first in the water

**Author's Note:**

> A fic where Matsuhana get their shit together _after_ iwaoi do??
> 
> According to MS Word I've spent over 16 hours on this fic, which is 16 hours more than I should have spent on it. 
> 
> Anyway, first fic on ao3. enjoy!
> 
> (Inspired by Mystic7 & [this awesome fic by Royal Society of Pandas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7151264). Title from FRENSHIP & Emily Warren's Capsize)

**POKEMON BLOOM EVENT! Seijoh Quartet Reunited!**  
Pinkprofiterole | 299,274 views

The video starts off blurry, with only a human face framed by a head of shockingly pink hair vaguely distinguishable, before the camera manages to focus on Hanamaki. He gives the camera a lazy wave. “Hey there everyone! Welcome back to Pokemon Go with pinkprofiterole! Today, we – that’s me, Mattsun, Iwaizumi, and Oikawa – are hunting for Pokémon at Dratini Park." 

"Since it’s the Grass Type event, Oikawa randomly decided that we needed to get together for a full-day hunt. ‘Cause, ya’ know, symbolism, our high school having literal fresh leaves as a mascot. Absolutely majestic, I know. Mattsun and Iwaizumi had to take the bullet train all the way here yesterday night and crashed at our place. Y’all really should get out there and farm all this grass type candy though. It’s only noon right now and I’ve already stocked up enough Hoppip candy to finally – finally get a Jumpluff, which happens to be my favourite Pokémon currently in the game. And no matter what level you’re at, Bulbasaur and Chikorita candy are always welcome. Although, you have been warned – prepare for the pollen.” 

Following the intro is a montage of the boys walking around the park, phones in hand, surrounded by lush greenery, coupled with a bunch of scenic shots of the park, a few close-ups of decently rare catches consisting of several Skiplooms and wild Victreebell, and a disgustingly sweet shot of Iwaizumi and Oikawa sharing an ice cream.

The video then cuts to Hanamaki sitting on a bench with a huge lake behind him, presumably still in the park. “Anyway, you know how when you catch Pokémon in this game, if you hit the coloured target circle thingy –“ he looks to the side and yells at someone off-camera “what’s that circle thingy called?” “I don’t know man,” a deep voice shouts back, “Just call it the aiming circle thingy!” Hanamaki then turns back to the camera and clears his throat, “Ehem. Excuse Mattsun. If you hit the aiming circle thingy when it’s big, you get a ‘Nice!’ and if you hit it accurately when it’s really small, you get an ‘Excellent!’.” 

“So it recently has been brought to my attention that the name of the Great Ball very suspiciously coincides with the praise that Pokemon Go gives you when you hit the aiming circle thingy when it is suitably small and yet not small enough. A middle-quality throw.” Cue a shot of Oikawa running towards the camera, waving his phone victoriously (read: idiotically) and seemingly unaware that he was being filmed, yelling “Guess what, Makki! I got a ‘Great’ on the Meganium with just one Great Ball!” The video cuts back to Hanamaki, who throws a Pinap berry at the CP507 Gloom on his mobile phone screen and curves a Great Ball at it. “Is Pokémon Go trying to tell us something?” He whisper-shouts conspirationally, as the Gloom turns into a ball of white light and is captured. 

“I don’t think so,” Matsukawa butts in, and a mess of curly black hair and long limbs enters the camera’s field of view, casually shoving Hanamaki out of the frame. A yelp of pain is heard, but Matsukawa’s expression is as deadpan and unchanging as ever. “I think it’s a coincidence,” he continues, as if he didn’t just push his best friend of four years off a park bench onto the ground, “and, unfortunately, I do not believe in coincidences. Hence to dispel this coincidence theory, I hereby formally submit a suggestion to Niantic: We should change the names of the Pokéball and the Ultra Ball to the Nice Ball and the Excellent Ball respectively. This way, the Great Ball-Great will not merely be a coincidence but a cleverly engineered marketing strategy.”

By this point Hanamaki has evidently had enough of Matsukawa’s bullshit and cuts in, pushing Mattsun off the bench as revenge towards his earlier attack. “Mattsun, Mattsun. You poor, naïve, uneducated soul! The Pokéball and the Ultra Ball are trademarked names that the entire Pokémon franchise, _including_ the original games and series, revolves around! It’s not in Niantic’s power to change something as crucial as that! Instead I suggest Niantic change the praise we get when we throw the balls.” He looks the camera dead in the eye. “Niantic, if you’re listening. When we manage to hit the Pokémon when the aiming circle thingy is smallest, please change the ‘Excellent’ into ‘Ultra!’. And if the shot isn’t very accurate, when the aiming circle is really big,” cue a zoom in into Hanamaki’s face, “when we catch the Pokémon, instead of saying ‘Nice!’, say ‘Poké!’” 

**Comments (2806)**

**Foxpuff903** Love this video! It’s always nice to see the 4 of them together :D

 **siobhannnnnnnnx** lmao that ending im ded I laughed for a solid 5 minutes thank u makki ur videos brighten up my life

 **BrendanGames** Notification squad where u at (Caught 2 wild meganiums today it was gr8)

_

Hanamaki switches off the camera. Matsukawa is still on the ground, laughing his ass off at the terrible joke Hanamaki just made. He has tears in his eyes, and he just looked so stupid and his laughter was so stupidly contagious, Hanamaki couldn’t help but join in. 

Lately, Hanamaki’s been experiencing these warm, fuzzy feelings whenever his best friend was nearby, and especially when they’re laughing together.

And so they laughed and laughed, receiving many a strange look from passers-by. What a weird sight they were, two lanky overgrown boys clutching their stomachs and rolling on the ground, one with thick curly hair and bushy eyebrows, the other with pink hair and next to no eyebrows at all. 

By the time Iwaizumi and Oikawa made it back from their detour around the lake and Iwaizumi gave them both a smack to the back of their heads for embarrassing them all in public, Hanamaki had realised several things: 1) Mattsun has dimples when he laughs, and you usually don’t notice them because his expression is always so deadpan 2) His royally bushy eyebrows make him want to either punch him in the face or shave them straight off, Jesus Christ. 

On the ride home, Matsukawa, his fellow backseat passenger, wiggles those stupid eyebrows at him and whispers “Poké”. Hanamaki lets out a bark of laughter, and he sounds so uncannily like a hyena it gets Mattsun laughing all over again too, scaring poor Oikawa so badly he almost drives into another car (and hence very nearly killing them all) and earning them both a punch to the gut from Iwaizumi after they pull up to Hanamaki and Oikawa’s hostel. Another revelation hits him (just like Iwaizumi’s punches, unexpected, merciless, and knocking him out of breath): 

3) He really, _really_ wouldn’t mind hearing Mattsun’s stupid, contagious laughter every day for the rest of his life.

And honestly, he didn’t know exactly what to do with that information.

_

He’s in the middle of editing a new video in his and Oikawa’s room when suddenly a disgustingly sweaty balled-up jersey is shoved in his face.

He gags violently and decks his roommate who sneaked up behind him right in the stomach.

“What the fuck man!” he gripes at the body sprawled out on the floor. “Can’t you see that I’m busy?”

“In my defence, I’ve called your name like, 17 times already. No response at all. It was the last resort,” quips Oikawa back at him. “You’ve been staring at that same screen for five minutes and you haven’t even as much as moved the mouse. What were you even spacing out about?”

Was it really that obvious how distracted he was? He inwardly curses Matsukawa for being the latest Thing On His Mind. For being so…thought-provoking. “Nothing much.”

But Oikawa, being Oikawa, wouldn’t let it slide. He hoists himself up and plops into the chair beside Hanamaki’s. “Come on, you can share your troubles with the great Oikawa-san! I’m more than happy to give you advice!” Hanamaki snorts. “Yeah, like how you gave Kageyama advice about volleyball back in junior high. Or like how you gave him advice on how to get together with Karasuno’s number 10. Or like when –“

Oikawa holds up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. But-” He drops the act and sounds surprisingly genuine. “-if you’ve got anything on your mind, I’m always here if you want to talk about it. Same goes for Mattsun and Iwa-chan.”

He considers his offer and makes a split-second decision to take it. “Alright, I’ll bite. What do you think it means. If, hypothetically, maybe. If you suddenly notice that you think about someone a lot...like, they’re always occupying some degree of space at back of your mind kind of ‘a lot’. If one day you realise – out of nowhere, really – that you maybe kinda want to spend the rest of your life with that person-“ “Oooh! Love troubles!” Oikawa positively squeals. “Is it someone I know?”

Hanamaki inwardly flinches, already regretting his moment of weakness, and tries to do damage control. “I can’t tell you either way. You’d torment the hell out of me.”

“So it is someone I know.” He chances a look at Oikawa, but instead of the predatory grin (not unlike the one he got whenever he saw Kageyama and Karasuno’s Number 10 Shorty together) he expected to see, Oikawa has a real smile stretched across his face. Whatever that meant. “It means you should tell them your feelings! They probably, very likely, surely want to go on an adventure with you for the rest of your lives too! Trust me, I’m kind of an expert on this matter.” And just before he hops off the chair and flounces off to the bathroom, the bastard has the audacity to fucking wink at Hanamaki.

“You don’t even know who I’m talking about,” Hanamaki calls out to his retreating figure.

_

**Reacting to: Oikawa’s Physics Textbook!**

Pinkprofiterole | 293,024 views

“So I see that a lot of you have sent in requests for another reaction video lately,” Hanamaki says, sitting at his desk in his dorm room. “And what am I if not an enabler. But honestly that last reaction video to the first episode of Attack on Titan Season 2 has left me pretty scarred, so it’s safe to say that I’ll be staying away from any wildly popular anime series for a while. Thus today I proudly present to you, the exact opposite of a wildly popular anime series–“ He bends down under the desk and out of the frame, resurfacing with a huge textbook in his hands. “– Pinkprofiterole Reacts to: Oikawa’s Physics Textbook!”

He makes sure to let the camera get a clear shot of the pink and purple book cover, before setting it down on the table in front of him with a plop and flipping through the pages. “This textbook is called ‘University Physics with Modern Physics’, 14th edition, written by Hugh Young and Roger A. Freedman. Before you ask, yes, it’s the English version. Yes, both Oikawa and I are perfectly capable of understanding English even though we’re Japanese. Seijoh has a pretty intense English course.”

“And you might be wondering what majors we’re doing? Oikawa, Seijoh’s golden boy, does astrophysics in Todai. That’s Tokyo Uni to you non-Japanese out there. Shoutout to y’all by the way. He also plays on the varsity team. We’re actually dormmates,” he gestures at the wall behind him which is decorated with various alien and space themed posters, “hence the decorations. I swear on the amazing godsent bakery down the street that _that_ –“ he makes another sweeping gesture at the posters, “– is not me. Right, where was I? Oikawa does astrophysics. I do mechanical engineering. Matsukawa is studying linguistics in Miyagi University, got a full ride there, that crafty bastard. I can’t even remember a single period of Japanese lit in which he was actually awake for the lesson? Iwaizumi is doing medicine at Tohoku. Don’t let his biceps fool you, he’s as smart as Oikawa - ah! Here we go.” He finds the page he was looking for. “Chapter 44, Particle Physics and Cosmology.”

“Thing is, I probably have close to zero understanding of this stuff. Remember, I’m taking mechanical engineering, which does require we learn a substantial amount of physics, but mostly it’s classical physics. Y’know, Newton’s laws, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, the likes. Maybe a little general relativity. But it’s probably nowhere as hardcore as this –“ He squints at the book, “-stuff we call modern physics. So buckle up kids, it’s going to be a wild ride.”

The screen then divides into two parts, one still showing Hanamaki’s face, the other showing the page of the physics textbook he was reading from. “Ehem. Cue Morgan Freeman voice and epic background music. What are the most fundamental constituents of matter? How did the universe begin? And what is the fate of our universe? In this chapter we will explore what physicists and astronomers have learned in their quest to answer these questions.” He cuts himself off, “Jesus Christ, that’s so Oikawa. You should see his 1TB hard disk of space and alien documentaries. Maybe I’ll even show them to you one day.” 

He continues to read about the history and reasoning behind the discovery of the electron, proton, photon, neutron, and positron. “Wow, this stuff is actually pretty interesting. Keep this up and I might consider jumping ships to physics. According to Richard Feynman, the positron can be mathematically described as an electron travelling backward in time, and if that doesn’t sound cool to you, I don’t know what does. It also kind of makes sense when you think about it. ‘Cause the positron is the negative energy state of the electron, right? It’s like, a vacancy. So when one of each collide they return to the zero energy state and matter is destroyed while energy is released! Dude, I feel like I’m going to be the next Stephen Hawking.”

He continues on to the physics behind particle accelerators and detectors. (“I understand these formulae, but that’s cause I’m an engineering student. It’s kind of my job to understand this stuff? The Large Hadron Collider in CERN though, now that’s something I want to see. Or probably every physics student wants to see. I’ll put that on my ever-growing bucket list that hopefully I will get to shorten as my life shortens.”) 

Hanamaki’s mental state starts to visibly deteriorate when he reaches the sections on strange quarks (“There’s an actual, measurable physical quantity called strangeness?? I'd say my level of strangeness is pretty high ha ha. I just don’t understand why strangeness is called strangeness. What the fuck is it even??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN STRANGENESS IS CONSERVED WHAT TWO LIFETIMES WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS K SUPERSCRIPT ZERO”), the eightfold way (“What is this, what is life, will I ever reach enlightenment?”), and quark colours (The camera shows Hanamaki face down on the textbook and yelling “Osmosis!”).

“Well, that’s it for today’s reaction video. I am incredibly sorry for subjecting you to that torture, but at the same time I can’t say that I’m not proud of myself for making it through. Even though I probably only absorbed, what, a quarter of all that mind-numbing shit? Don’t know how you physicists do it. I’d give you all a shoutout but I don’t really have much strength left. Anyway, shameless self-promo, if you liked this video do give it a thumbs up and comment down below what video you’d like to see next. Remember, I’m a broke college student, so if you’d like to buy me a coffee or better yet a creampuff, or possibly even sponsor my tuition fees for next semester, do support me on Patreon, link’s in the description! And I’ll see you in the next video. Hanamaki out!” Just before the screen blanks out, the door behind Hanamaki slams open and in barges a dishevelled-looking Oikawa yelling “MAKKI HAVE YOU SEEN MY PHYSICS TEXTBOOK!”

**Comments (2574)**

**Raikou52** tbh I love all of Makki’s videos especially the endings they’re always super hilarious. Fave youtuber!

 **PineNFlowers** Where is Matsun we miss himmm  <3

 **MusicAlly98v** I speak for all the arts students in the world and I wish to say that I understood nothing at all

_

Hanamaki’s phone pings with a new message. A frequent occurrence. He glances at the screen and sees that the message is from Iwaizumi. Hmm, a rare occurrence.

**Iwaizumi Hajime (15:52)**

So a little birdie told me that you have a crush on someone close to home

**Me (15:52)**

The only crushing im gonna do

Is crush u in arm wrestling

You better be ready the next time we meet

**Iwaizumi Hajime (15:53)**

Lol you wish

But seriously though. I agree with Oikawa. Tell him.

**Me (15:54)**

Lol fuck off

**Iwaizumi Hajime (15:54)**

Can’t say I didn’t try

_

Hanamaki was in a deep pit of shit, and an even deeper pit of denial.

He had 2 fast-approaching deadlines, mid-terms were in less than a month, and he still had to plan, film, _and_ edit at least three videos in advance to accommodate for exam season. He wasn’t keen on missing his weekly update schedule, thus letting down his loyal viewers and risk having his channel messed with by Youtube’s algorithm system which might hurt his viewership. While he didn’t really care about the money, he did know for a fact that his viewers genuinely loved watching his videos – he’d done a few livestreams before, and his some of his fans (calling them that makes him feel like Oikawa) had mentioned that his videos were their guilty pleasure, and some even went as far as to say that it was the one thing they looked forward to every Saturday. He wasn’t that self-important, and he knew that they were probably exaggerating, but he still felt obliged to stick to his schedule. He was a student, but he was also an entertainer. A professional, of sorts.

Needless to say, he was incredibly stressed.

On top of that, he had to deal with his newfound feelings for his best friend. His best friend, the idiot who gave his second button to Hanamaki as a joke on graduation, (to which he retaliated with the button of his trousers. One of his prouder moments.), who once (or twice, or five times) hid bird’s eye chilli in the custard of his cream puffs just to see him sweat, who really should do something about his eyebrows, who was currently miles away and sitting for his exams, meaning shorter phone conversations and no time for skype sessions at all. Which made it all the more difficult to sort out said feelings.

In retrospect, the feelings probably were there all along, just that he never acknowledged them until they went on their separate ways after graduation.

Hanamaki really, really missed Matsukawa. Oh god, he was starting to sound like Oikawa with his gross pining. Too much exposure to the annoying brunette, maybe. He contemplated calling Iwaizumi to get him out of his hair, but decided against it. After all, Iwaizumi was probably busy with his exams too. As for his royal highness himself, he was quite occupied with the all-Japan intercollegiate volleyball championship, not to mention his own exams.

Hanamaki sighed and continued with his fluid mechanics tutorial. Was it already time to break out the emergency stash of videos?

_

**SEIJOH QUARTET FACE OFF! | The Best Friend Tag**

Pinkprofiterole | 320,469 views

“What’s up guys! Welcome back to my channel!” Hanamaki yells into the camera. “We have a very exciting video today! Today we are doing…THE!” He makes a Will Smith gesture towards the three boys behind him. “Best,” Matsukawa chimes in lazily from where he is sprawled on Makki’s bed. “Friend!!” Oikawa – who is sitting in Iwaizumi’s lap – yells, just as excited as (if not more than) Hanamaki. There is a momentary pause following this, in which all three of them turn to Iwaizumi, who sighs, long suffering, and caves in to peer pressure. He closes the anatomy textbook he was trying (and failing, as he always does when his boyfriend is within a 500 metre radius) to read, and holds up a peace sign. “Tag.”

“It’s actually a modified version of the Best Friend Tag. We’re turning it into a 2 versus 2, all out, no-holds-barred competition, because the two lovebirds are super competitive and it affects the mood of everyone around them. I mean, it’s bound to turn into a bloodbath sooner or later, so why not just make it clear from the start.” Matsukawa drawls lazily. Oikawa squawks indignantly in the background, earning a textbook to the head from Iwaizumi, who just sighs resignedly because, well, it’s true. “We’ll be taking questions that Makki’s dear viewers have submitted through twitter! Thank you for the awesome response!” adds Oikawa while making double peace signs, seemingly already recovered from having a 1000-page hardcover textbook collide with his head.

After that intro, the video cuts to footage of all four boys sitting at the desk. Hanamaki claps his hands together. “So it’s Mattsun and I versus Iwaizumi and Oikawa. Alright, it’ll go like this. We choose a random question, and Mattsun and Iwa will write down their answers to that question on these whiteboards. Then Oikawa and I will answer the questions – Oikawa answers for Iwa, I answer for Mattsun. Each correct answer earns one point, and then we switch – Oikawa and I write down answers, Iwa and Mattsun guess. The duo that stacks up the most points by the end of ten questions wins this round.”

“Ready guys?” All three boys nod with varying degrees of enthusiasm. “Okay then, question one. Since that’s your jersey number, Oikawa, would you do the honours?” Oikawa puts his hand into the cracker tin Hanamaki is holding out and takes out a folded piece of paper. He unfolds it and squints at the contents. “If you were to make a sandwich for your friend, what sandwich would you make? Hmm, that’s a tough one right off the bat.”

The second Matsukawa and Iwaizumi finish writing down their answers (the former relaxed, the latter with his eyebrows characteristically scrunched up), Oikawa (who is visibly vibrating in excitement) jumps in enthusiastically and proceeds to run his mouth off. “I’ll go first! Iwa-chan’s a nostalgic old man, and I freaking suck at all things cooking, so I’ll make him a Peanut Butter and Jelly 2.0! Three fillings horizontally on one piece of bread, three fillings vertically on the other, so you get nine different flavour combinations, ya’know? And the fillings will be bacon, marshmallow, and salted caramel butter on one piece and Nutella, strawberry jam, and maple syrup-” Hanamaki knocks Oikawa out of the frame with a huge smile on his face. “That’s enough from you~ Iwaizumi, what say you? Is that your ideal sandwich? The sandwich of your dreams?” 

Iwaizumi grins and flips the whiteboard he is holding, on which was written… the exact fillings that Oikawa had described, nearly word-for-word. 

Hanamaki wailed in complete disbelief, and even Matsukawa who isn't usually fazed by their antics raises his eyebrows a little. The scoreboard Hanamaki added to the bottom of the screen pings and reads “Iwaoi: 1 – Mattsun+Makki: 0” “How is that even possible?? It’s rigged, definitely rigged! You two planned this from the start didn’t you!”

“Nah,” Iwaizumi replies easily. “It’s just something Oikawa’s mother often made for the two of us back when we were young. A treat of sorts.” He directs this tiny smile at Oikawa, who giggles in return. “Ugh,” says Matsukawa, shielding his eyes from the sight with his hands. “The PDA is strong here.”

Hanamaki recovers quickly. “Well, we’ll outdo them, won’t we Mattsun?” Matsukawa nods, a determined look settling on his features. “The sandwich I’d make for you is one befitting of the gods,” Hanamaki begins dramatically, “the bread would be made of the finest organic wheat, sowed and reaped by the hand of God, imported all the way from 3000 B.C. Sumeria; the ground Kobe beef patty grilled to a savoury medium-rare, prepared precisely and professionally in accordance to the Krusty Krab’s secret formula; aged Swiss cheese from the French countryside, with as many holes in it as possible, that goes without saying; and, just for laughs, probably like ten slices of pickles or raw bitter gourd.”

Iwaizumi and Oikawa have long dissolved into laughter by then, and Matsukawa just gets this weird constipated look on his face like all he wants to do is to burst out laughing but he’s holding back, and does the grand reveal – he flips his whiteboard, which reads –

– cheeseburger, and for the love of God, **no fucking pickles.**

“Well, you didn’t say no to the bitter gourd!” Hanamaki replies, scandalised. 

Matsukawa just smiles at him. “Don’t worry. I’d eat anything you make for me.” The other two are positively howling with laughter, Oikawa with tears streaming down his face.“Alright, alright. Get yourselves together, you two. On to the next question! Jersey number 2, Mattsun, your turn.” Matsukawa picks a paper and reads. “First impression of the other.”

Hanamaki and Oikawa write their answers down, and Matsukawa begins. “Makki and I met in our first year at Seijoh. We were classmates, and volleyball teammates, for all three years in fact. If I didn’t know better, I’d say his first impression of me would be ‘the guy who always sleeps during class in the corner’. But then again, I did make quite an impression as ‘the guy who rode a unicycle onto the stage during the principal’s speech at the opening ceremony while wearing a green frog onesie’. The entire student body was shocked silent except for this one pink-haired kid who yelled ‘Here come dat boi!’. But unfortunately before I could respond with ‘Oh shit waddup’, I fell off the stage. And was brought to the disciplinary board and got detention for like, two months, yada yada yada. Probably everyone remembers me as that kid. Hanamaki most likely does too. But anyway we knew we were best friends in that one moment. I swear, I knew right then and there that I’d met my soulmate. I mean, he even brought a huge cake iced with a picture of dat boi for me the next day.”

“Never managed to outdo him, but not for lack of trying,” Hanamaki admits begrudgingly. They all laugh and Hanamaki flips his whiteboard. Written on it are the huge words “DAT BOI”. Ping! Score: Iwaoi: 1 – Mattsun+Makki: 1.

“Your turn, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa squeals.

“Meanie.” Iwaizumi answers, short, concise, and without an ounce of hesitation, and reaches to flip the whiteboard in Oikawa’s hands. Hanamaki and Matsukawa stared dumbfoundedly at Oikawa’s neat print, which said the exact same word, capitalised and bolded with marker. “This is unreal,” exclaims Hanamaki. Matsukawa turns to Iwaizumi. “Dude, I’m convinced you can read each other’s minds.” “Maybe we can,” smirks Iwaizumi, “Or maybe he never stopped calling me that since we could talk.” He catches Oikawa easily when he launches all 70kg of himself at him. (“Iwa-channnnn”) Ping! Score: Iwaoi: 2 – Mattsun+Makki: 1.

Hanamaki coughs pointedly at them and picks out a third question. “Favourite food. That’s really straightforward. What’s with all these food-related questions though?”

***

“That’s about it for today’s video!” says Hanamaki, struggling to maintain his upbeat attitude even though the scoreboard reads 10-3. All three points scored by Matsukawa, no thanks to Hanamaki himself (whose answers got increasingly ridiculous as the game progressed). Utterly destroyed by the awful childhood-friends-turned-lovers power couple. “If you enjoyed our collaboration with these two idiots, please leave a like, because I sure didn’t. And the comment box is always open for video ideas!”

“Admit defeat!” yells Oikawa. 

“Not in a million years,” deadpans Matsukawa. 

Iwaizumi just sighs (yet again) and mutters, “Can we just get this over with?”

**Comments (3008)**

**siobhannnnnnnnx** yassss seijoh four

 **RavenLiam** Did matsukawa seriosuly do that in freshmen yr omg makki he’s a keeper

 **angel99s** Iwachan’s smile so precious im crying

 **cal!4n!ab0y** Iwaoi and Matsuhana(? Hanamatsu?) are just……………………otp (Why isn’t anyone talking about Matsun’s smile at 5:14????)

_

While rummaging in the pantry for a midnight snack to go with his fifth cup of coffee for the night, Hanamaki comes across the cracker tin that they used while filming the best friend tag video over a month ago, and against his better judgement, he opens it to take a look at the questions that they didn’t get to pick for the video.

Which is how Matsukawa gets (quite rudely, if you asked him) woken up by his awful ringtone (set by Hanamaki) blasting from his phone on the bedstand. He reaches for it without surfacing from under the blankets and answers the call groggily, but is instantly awake the moment he hears Hanamaki’s voice on the other end.

“Mattsun, remember the Best Friend Challenge video we filmed the other day? I found the rest of the questions that we didn’t manage to answer, and I know you were catching up on your sleep ‘cuz your exams just ended, but is it okay if you keep me company? I need a distraction.”

He didn’t miss the slight note of hysteria in Hanamaki’s voice, which was not a good sign. Hanamaki’s exams were in two days, and Oikawa was still all the way in Osaka (Todai just won the national volleyball championship finals that afternoon, and the team wasn’t back yet), Matsukawa remembered. “Sure,” he replies. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know. Anything to get all those awful formulas out of my head for a while.”

“Here’s an idea,” Matsukawa says. “Why don’t you pick a question from the tin, and I’ll answer it.”

“Mm.” Some audible rustling. “Question one. What’s it like being so far away from your best friend, not just in different universities, but in completely different cities?”

“It’s hard.” Matsukawa admits. “You know. In high school, you get used to seeing each other so often, you get off on jokes about how you don’t want them all up in your face. But then life happens, and in the blink of an eye you’re going to graduate, but just before he goes off to the big city you realise that all you want to do is stay by his side.” He hears Hanamaki’s breath hitch, and everything just comes pouring out of his mouth. Fuck it. Distract him. Hanamaki was vulnerable, even if he didn’t show it. “And you give him the second button of your uniform as a joke just as planned but you’re not even sure whether it’s still a joke or not. I mean, to him, it probably is, but to you, suddenly you don’t know anymore.”

“From making life hell for your teachers together in class, to lunch on the rooftop every single day, watching your other two best friends pine over each other and finally – finally – get their gay act together,” Hanamaki breathes out a laugh at that, “to fighting together in the court, winning together, losing together, growing together – and suddenly there’s this 6’1”, human-shaped empty space beside you. You start a new life in university, make new friends and everything’s great, but then you see something funny and you turn to share it with him but he’s just not there anymore, he’s 190 miles away. You realise the space beside you is actually a hole in your heart. A phone call never’d seem so far.”

“Wow,” Hanamaki jokes, a visible attempt to lighten the mood Matsukawa’s put them in, “That’s just us, man. Imagine what Oikawa and Iwaizumi are going through.” It doesn’t work, not really. “Question two?” Matsukawa prompts.

“Honest opinion of your best friend.”

“He’s responsible to a fault. He’s the sort of person who’d prioritise other people’s happiness over his own wellbeing. And somehow, he manages to do a good job at that.” Matsukawa looks at the clock hanging on the wall. 2:05AM. “He shouldn’t have to try so hard, shouldn’t have to burn himself out, because what he doesn’t see is that all he has to do to make the people around him happy is to take good care of himself. To just be himself.”

Hanamaki is silent, but Matsukawa ploughs on.

“He’s smart. He’s funny. He’s strong. Stronger than he looks, and much, much stronger than he thinks. But he holds onto everything with all his might no matter how heavy it gets. He really should learn that it’s okay to share the burden.” Matsukawa has to mentally slap a hand over his mouth to stop himself from rambling on. “Next question.”

“What does your best friend worry about the most? God, I swear, these questions are getting more and more personal. Who on earth even sent these in?”

“…”

“Mattsun?”

“He’s worried about his exams, obviously. But he’s also worried about his Youtube channel. A lot. Specifically, he’s stressed out because he’s not comfortably in control over both. And because he feels like he’s going to disappoint both his professors and his subscribers.”

He hears Hanamaki let out a tiny, exhausted sigh on the other end of the call. “I’m right, aren’t I. That’s why you called me this late at night. And knowing you, your unhealthy ass is probably on your tenth cup of coffee or something.”

“Fifth, actually,” and is that a smile Matsukawa hears? Oh god, it’s 2:15 in the morning and he can hear smiles now. 

They’re both quiet for a while, until Hanamaki breaks the silence. “Lately it seems like I’ve been drowning. In my textbooks, in coffee, in these equations.” In my dumb feelings for you because I missed you so much, but god forbid he say that out loud. “In the videomaking app. In my own head. It’s so hard to keep up with everything.”

“What about the emergency videos?” The videos we filmed in case you had nothing to upload.

“I’ve used up all of them _and_ I’ve already missed last week’s upload.” Hanamaki rubs his eyes. Today is Tuesday. Exams start later today and only end on Friday. He has no time at all to film and nothing to post up on Saturday, and he really can’t afford to miss another upload. While his exam revision was more or less on schedule, his filming sure wasn’t.

Matsukawa gets an idea. “Makki,” he says. “You trust me, right?”

“Course I do. With my life.” Hanamaki replies without missing a beat.

“With your youtube channel?” That channel was basically his child.

“…I guess so.”

“Let me film and edit the video for this Saturday.” He can tell Hanamaki is going to protest, but he cuts him off. “I already know what to it’s going to be about. Just relax, and focus on your exams. And don’t forget to be ready for his highness’s party on Friday. I’ll see you then, okay?”

Hanamaki seems to resign to his fate. “I’ll trust you just this once. Please don’t let me down.” (Read: I’ll be counting on you.)

Matsukawa reassured him that he definitely wasn’t planning to, already starting to plot out the video in his head.

“Mattsun?” Hanamaki mumbles tiredly, already feeling the promise of a good night’s rest (something that had been evading him for days) summoning him to his bed, even though just twenty minutes ago he was wide awake and jumpy from caffeine. Talking to Matsukawa was incredibly comforting.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

Matsukawa couldn’t stop the smile forming on his lips. “Don’t worry about it. Now go to sleep, so you don’t fall asleep in the exam hall.” And ends the call. He had no doubt that Hanamaki knew what he said actually meant “Good luck, you can do this. I believe in you”.

_

**MAKKI’S 19TH!!!**

Pinkprofiterole | 367,343 views

It’s evident from the start that the quality of the entire video was going to be, for lack of a nicer way to put it, sub-par compared to Hanamaki’s usual standards. For one, it’s filmed using a hidden camera, and quality isn’t exactly a big priority for hidden cameras.

Instead of Hanamaki’s patented shockingly pink hair, the viewers are greeted by the sight of a messy mop of black hair and a pair of thick bushy eyebrows sitting atop two droopy eyes. “Let’s just address the elephant in the room right from the start,” Matsukawa whispers. “I’m obviously not Makki, but well, I’m guessing you guys know who I am. My name is Matsukawa Issei, and I’m one of Makki’s best friends. Today I’m here with-” he shifts the camera until it points at the two other occupants of the room. “Why are we whispering?” Iwaizumi whispers. There’s a tacky party hat perched atop his head. Oikawa blows a mint green party blower at the camera which lets out a comical trumpet noise. All three of them seem to be hiding behind the couch in Oikawa’s and Hanamaki’s dorm room. “-Iwa and Oikawa, and we’re hijacking Makki’s channel just for a little.”

“As some of you may have realised, Hanamaki has been very busy with his exams for the past few weeks. Mech engineering is no joke, and he was so swamped with revision and so stressed out, he even missed an upload last week, which is very unlike him. On his behalf, I hope that you understand. So, in order to let him get some well-deserved rest, we’ve volunteered to help him get a video up tomorrow – that’s today for you when you’re watching – ‘cuz he’s been studying non-stop since last Thursday. His exams end today, and given his work ethic, he probably completely forgot that it’s, coincidentally, his birthday today. So we’re going to surprise him with a birthday and best-friend-appreciation party!”

“Under the pretence of celebrating Todai’s victory in the volleyball championships ‘cuz we couldn’t give it away too early,” Oikawa chimes in, squashing his way into the camera’s range with a huge grin plastered on his face and holds up a peace sign. “Shittykawa, stop trying to hog the spotlight! And we’re celebrating all three at once, for heaven’s sake.” Iwaizumi says off screen. “Anyway, do say congratulations to Oikawa in the comments! We’re proud of you.” He adds as an afterthought.

Matsukawa turns the camera to show the rest of the room beyond the tiny cramped space behind the sofa. There are several helium-filled alphabet foil balloons tied to Hanamaki’s chair, (“For anyone who’s wondering, those balloons spell out HB WE ♥ U. Courtesy of Oikawa. Super gay, I approve.”), an assortment of party supplies (“Because Iwa-chan’s caveman brain couldn’t come up with anything more creative!” “ _I’ll end you_ ”), and a bouquet wrapped with purple and mint crepe paper lying on the floor beside them (of which the flowers were hidden from the camera’s angle).

Suddenly, Iwaizumi hushes them and reaches to switch off the lights, plunging the dorm room into pitch darkness. “Operation: Film Video for Makki, commence!” Matsukawa mutters under his breath, which the camera just barely picks up.

Footsteps are heard, and Hanamaki’s voice follows. “You say that now, Daichi, but then when sensei gives us our papers back, you’re gonna be the one with the highest score in the year.” Daichi says something on the other end of the line, and Hanamaki laughs. “I sure hope that’s the case. Anyway, I’ll see to you on Monday. I’ve got to change into something at least half decent. Mattsun and Iwa came all the way to throw a party for Oikawa.” The room key is inserted into the lock. “Sure thing, I’ll pass the message. See you.” The door opens and Hanamaki steps in. He switches on the light.

“CONGRATULATIONS!!!” The three of them screech at the top of their lungs, leaping out from behind the sofa. Hanamaki startles and nearly falls backwards through the door. The look on his face is priceless and is perfectly captured by the camera, which is, presumably, clipped onto Matsukawa’s shirt pocket judging by its awkward angle. “Guys,” Hanamaki asks with a blank expression, “What are you doing?”

“We just wanted to let you know that you’re the greatest person ever, Makki!” Oikawa says brightly, and shoves the foil balloons into his hands. He blows the party blower in his face obnoxiously. “And we really love you!” “Congratulations on surviving your exams,” Iwaizumi says, and pops a champagne popper, showering Hanamaki with confetti and streamers.

Matsukawa picks up the bouquet and gets on one knee. He looks up at Hanamaki, who is still dumbfounded, and presents it to him solemnly. “Happy 19th birthday, Hanamaki Takahiro.”

“Oh my god,” Hanamaki accepts the gaudy offering, and finally loses it. “Are these creampuffs?” And sure enough, when Matsukawa stands up, the camera manages to get a good shot of the contents of the bouquet – instead of flowers, it contains a dozen creampuffs, each the size of a fist and dusted with icing sugar, the works. “It completely slipped my mind,” he says, wiping away his tears of laughter, and beams hugely. “Thanks guys! This is definitely the best birthday ever!”

“Even better than that time we toilet papered Irihata-sensei’s car so we could skip practice and go to the amusement park?” Oikawa asks. Hanamaki snorts. “Yeah, even better than that.”

“Well,” Matsukawa says, “You’re up for a treat, ‘cuz the celebration’s far from over.”

+++

The video continues with the four boys getting dinner in a hole-in-the-wall ramen restaurant, which Hanamaki claims is “the best in Japan!” though he admits he never had the time to visit it. Throughout the entire meal (which is delicious, if Oikawa and Hanamaki’s fanboying is anything to go by), Hanamaki keeps needling Matsukawa with questions about the video he’s making. Did you film the video yet? Have you edited it yet? Anything you need help with? Can I watch it before you post it? Matsukawa just calmly replies to each one with a simple “you’ll find out tomorrow”. Hanamaki seems apprehensive, but appears to let it slide.

After that, they go to grab drinks at a bar. Meaning, they try to outdrink each other at a bar because everything’s a competition. Oikawa’s out cold after three shots of liquor, and Iwaizumi succumbs after eight drinks. Hanamaki and Matsukawa are the only ones still conscious. Matsukawa because he’s the designated Responsible One for the night (and because he needs to edit the video after the night is over), Hanamaki because he’s persistent.

“Why do we destroy our livers to celebrate the end of exams, Mattsun?” Hanamaki asks, and downs his tenth glass of liquor. His cheeks are rosy. A philosophical drunk, and a surprisingly dignified one, at that. “I mean, we’re younggggg,” he bemoans. “Being happy is supposed to make us want to live longer. Why do we drink what we clearly know is too much when we know that we’re going to suffer nasty hangovers the next day? Why take unnecessary risks?” It is unclear whether or not Hanamaki is still referring to the excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks at this point. “Why do we try so hard? Why do we try to juggle multiple responsibilities knowing that we could slip and fall anytime and smash everything? It’s all overkill, isn’t it?” His incoherent mumblings about alcohol and Youtube and best friends grows softer and softer as he drifts off to sleep.

Matsukawa is silent for a while, seemingly contemplating his words. And appears to make a decision.

“Why do we still take risks fully knowing the consequences?” He asks aloud, even though 3/3 of his target audience is dead asleep. “Maybe it’s because the good outcome we hope for is so incredibly good it outweighs the potential bad ones. Maybe it’s because the risk is worth it. And that’s what I’m going to do right now. I’m putting all the cards on the table.” 

The camera’s field of view shakes as Matsukawa unclips the device from his pocket. He angles it towards himself and looks straight into the camera. “Truth is,” he scratches his head somewhat bashfully. “I’ve been planning this for a while, and I hope you’ll do me the grace of watching this entire clip to the end. But I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again.”

“Makki, you’re smarter than you think, stronger than you believe, crazy responsible, and funny as hell. The craziest person I’ve ever met and probably will ever meet. Every day with you…is a new adventure. You’re the type of adventure that I definitely wouldn’t mind going on for my entire life. But I don’t think I’ve ever told you don’t have to work yourself to the bone to overcompensate for whatever it is you think you’re lacking. I may not be able to understand why you do so, but I want to let you know that it’s okay to rely on me, or on your other friends sometimes. And that you’re the best friend I could ever ask for, hell, the best person anyone would ask for. You know me inside out even if you don’t think so, and you’re absolutely ridiculous, freaking awesome, and super cute when you laugh. Or even when you don’t laugh.” 

His lower lip is visibly trembling. “And I love all that about you. I love you, Hanamaki Takahiro. Have loved you ever since I laid my eyes on your crazy pink hair and stupid eyebrowless eyes, or strike that, even before that. Ever since I heard you yell ‘here come dat boi’ from somewhere in the crowd. And I may be asking for too much and this probably will sound really horribly cheesy but I want to be the cream to your puff, the Kaoru to your Hikaru. I want to be the one to share your burden and to be your safe haven. I want to be your Player 2, to be at your back as we face off with the rest of the world.” He takes a deep breath. “Happy birthday, Makki. Please allow me the privilege of being your boyfriend.”

**Comments (4892)**

**cal!4n!ab0y** i fREAKING CALLED IT

MY SHIP IS FINALLY SAILING

 **angel99s** @pinkprofiterole OH MY GOD!!!!!1!!1 #H19Bpinkprofiterole guys trend it on twitter!!!

 **PineNFlowers** HOLY SHITTTTTTTTT HANAMAKI’S SO LUCKY  <3 <3 <3 #H19Bpinkprofiterole 

**RavenLiam** not to be a killjoy but makki hasn’t announced anything official on his twitter yet! Omg the suspense is killing me T__T Anyway #h19bpinkprofiterole #congratsmatsuhana #congratsTodaiVBC #congratsOikawa

 **Queen_Kelsie** Hanamaki-sama if you don’t want him may I have him? #H19Bpinkprofiterole

_

Hanamaki’s phone pings with another message from Iwaizumi. He unlocks his phone.

**Iwaizumi Hajime (9:07)**

You’ve watched the video right?

You aren’t actually surprised, are you?

Oikawa and I have already told you

Now please reply to Matsu I think he’s going to die of nervousness

**Me (9:08)**

On it

**Author's Note:**

> pb&j 2.0 idea from tumblr
> 
> I swear, any scene with Oikawa in it just writes itself lmao
> 
> you can find me at [aobearjohsai](http://aobearjohsai.tumblr.com) on tumblr


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